There was a major push for increasing the size and scope of the psychopaedic institutions following the Government's 1953 Aitken report, even though that was already against international WHO best practice. The stroppy parents who founded the IHC in 1949 lobbied hard for this committee which they hoped would instead recommend more community support and services. Instead they grew over the following two decades and places like Kimberley (just one of several institutions) had almost a thousand residents at times.

Good question. Social Welfare and Health I suspect. Some via Education. Government Departments weren't so silo'd in those days so I suspect there were many ways of uplifting children and making them the property of the State. I hope the Royal Commission investigates such questions and sorts out the tangled responsibilities of the State.

Though I did not understood it was an NZ invention rather than something we copied:

The profession of psychopaedic nurse (specialists in nursing intellectually disabled children) was developed in 1960s New Zealand

Are you quoting Hilary Stace's latest article, or the earlier one from 2014? She uses precisely the same sentence in both. I wasn't aware that "psychopaedic nurse" was an endemic NZ thing until she pointed it out. It was significant to me because, growing up in one of the handful of staff houses at Kimberley, I remember the adult conversations that took place over my head, and facts like that provide a context for events. Thank you Hilary.

Which part/s of the govt's Budgets did their funding come from in those days?

If an institution was designated as a hospital - Seacliff, Avondale-Oakley-Carrington, Levin-Kimberley, Templeton, Cherry Farm, Sunnyside, etc. - it was part of the Department of Health gulag. In everyday parlance, the Health Department. Ministry of Health certainly wasn't in common use back then. Each institution was presided over by a medical superintendent. Below him (always a him) was the head attendant as chief of male staff and the matron with her army of female nurses. In the early 60s they all became redesignated as nurses.

Yes, in those days we had government departments - departments of Government.. The monolithic ministries didn't come till the 1980s/90s. There were also varieties of inspection in these departments. However, I have talked to people who had some of these roles and they were not always aware of or alerted to abusive practices. There were many staff doing their best and presenting a benign face of institutionalisation. It was also accepted as best practice so not much desire to look too deep. Remember that it took a whistleblowing staff member to reveal the use of ECT as torture in Lake Alice and still more years for the practice to stop.

I'm not sure about exact details but some children were sent to special schools or orphanages run by faith-based organisations. Sometimes families retained welfare guardianship such as with residential special schools but as the State had oversight of these places via licensing and inspection etc and let abuse happen the State has responsibility.

Is there anyway to reunite the children put into state care in the 70s? Those that weren't adopted have very few avenues to try and find their birth parent, is this something that is being addressed in this process?

Some years ago Spectrum Care, a provider organisation, compiled a book of stories of some of the people who had come into their care since the institutions closed. The book was called Extraordinary Journeys and was an attempt to find out who the people were and give them identity. But as many were by then elderly and some didn't use words to communicate there were big gaps. Much sadness at estrangement from families in most situations. But it was a respectful attempt by the organisation to get to know those in their care.

I have a redacted file but getting anyone to really help and negotiate adequate contact seems impossible. There doesn't have to be actual physical/emotional abuse for a 'surendered' child to feel abandoned and undervalued. The right of the parent to remain anonymous seems to overrule the needs of the child.The Spectrum project looks interesting, I'll try and track down a copy.

Thanks for finding that link Rosemary. And congratulations with the victory (that is a story for the memoirs, maybe).

Just realised that in the post I made a mistake with the closure of Kimberley. It was 2006 not 2004. And I have been told that in the 1960s the State authority in charge of institutions was called the Department of Mental Hygiene.

There must be some use for the 2x60l plastic crates of printouts we've managed to accumulate over the years. Just the OIA request proceeds alone take up half a crate. Absolutely amazing how much space seems to be needed to essentially say nothing. And then there are the documents I printed out instinctively...only to find they had disappeared from the web since I downloaded them. The information we had to collate for the case is quite spectacular.

Disability neglect sadly continues. Distressed to hear about the so called carer of a high needs woman who, in a 6 hour day shift, spoke only a couple of sentences to her, offered no food/drink or help with toileting and watched loud videos with violence and swearing while ignoring her charge. Job description is to help with participation in the community.

Agency would probably say that there is no one else who will do the work. (Even though it pays over $20 per hour.) Major workforce issues in the disability sector need to be urgently addressed regardless of the Royal Commission's findings.

In 1972 there was a Royal Commission which looked at the situation with psychiatric and psychopaedic hospitals. The incoming Labour Government disestablished it and transferred it to a select committee investigation, basically saying get on with de-institutionalisation. The Commissioners decided to publish their recommendations on the 'mentally handicapped' anyway as they were unanimous in criticising government policy for the previous 20 years which had led to increased institutionalisation including of children. They provide figures of almost 5000 'mentally handicapped' children and adults then institutionalised. I do hope the new Commission takes all this context into account. Deep roots for ongoing injustice.

Today's article in the Sunday Star Times by Andrea Vance shows another reason why many abuse survivors distrust the state and its agencies such as Crown Law. The state's resources were used on surveillance of Keith Wiffin in earlier attempts to seek justice for survivors.